Praise for Zarqawi in new 'Bin Laden' broadcast

A new audio message purportedly by Osama bin Laden was broadcast today in which he eulogises the late leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as a "knight, the lion of holy war".

The message emerged on an Islamic website and played alongside an old still image of Bin Laden and previously seen video footage of Zarqawi, who was killed by a US airstrike north-east of Baghdad on June 7.

Bin Laden effusively praised the Jordanian-born militant, who some saw as a growing challenger to Bin Laden's status as leader of the global Islamist jihad, often using rhyming couplets.

In the 19-minute message, Bin Laden told the US president, George Bush, not to be "too happy" about Zarqawi's killing in a "shameful" US raid, and demanded the return of his body to his family.

He said the banner of al-Qaida in Iraq had passed "from one lion of Islam to another lion", thought by the US to be the Egyptian Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

The message had yet to be verified by the CIA, but if it was authentic it would be the fourth audio-only message put out this year by Bin Laden. New video images of him have not appeared since October 2004, just before the US presidential election.

This latest recording, in which Bin Laden's voice sometimes sounded tired, seemed to be part of an effort by the al-Qaida leadership to tout their connection with Zarqawi, with whom they sometimes had disagreements. At one point in the message, Bin Laden spoke of giving "instructions" to Zarqawi - an apparent attempt to show that the al-Qaida in Iraq leader was under his command.

Bin Laden spoke about Zarqawi's attacks on "certain sectors of the Iraqi people". This was a reference to the campaign of suicide bombings by Zarqawi's followers which have targeted Shia Muslims and brought Iraq close to a Sunni-Shia civil war.

This strategy created tension between Zarqawi and al-Qaida's "hardcore" leadership, who are hiding in Afghanistan or Pakistan, to which he swore allegiance in late 2004.

In today's message, Bin Laden said: "Abu Musab had clear instructions to focus his fight on the occupiers, particularly the Americans and to leave aside anyone who remains neutral.

"But for those who refused [neutrality] and stood to fight on the side of the crusaders against the Muslims, then he should kill them whoever they are, regardless of their sect or tribe. For supporting infidels against Muslims is a major sin."

In July 2005, Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, reportedly wrote a letter to Zarqawi, criticising his attacks on Shia mosques and civilians, saying they hurt the mujahideen's image. Zawahri also asked Zarqawi for money, according to the US military, which said it intercepted the message.

Zarqawi apparently brushed off the criticism as he continued to attack Shia Muslims.

Any tension between Zarqawi and al-Qaida's command appeared to have faded by early 2006, because Zawahri issued three videotapes this year in which he praised Zarqawi - including a tribute video last week similar to Bin Laden's one today.

Zarqawi is thought to be responsible for hundreds, perhaps thousands of deaths and is believed to have personally beheaded some hostages, including the British man Ken Bigley.

In a section of the latest Bin Laden message in which he addressed Mr Bush, the al-Qaida leader said: "We will continue to fight you and your allies everywhere, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan to run down your resources and kill your men until you return defeated to your nation".

He said Mr Bush should return Zarqawi's body and that Jordan's King Abdullah II should allow the militant's family to bury him. The Jordanian government has said it will never allow Zarqawi to be buried in his homeland because of a triple suicide bombing his followers carried out in Amman hotels that killed 60 people in November.

"What scares you about Abu Musab after he's dead?" Bin Laden said, addressing Abdullah. "You know that his funeral, if allowed to happen, would be a huge funeral showing the extent of sympathy with the mujahideen."

Bin Laden went on: "Al-Zarqawi's story will live forever with the stories of the nobles, so don't cry over one who is not missing. He can teach the world a lesson on how to seize freedom ... and how to resist tyrants.

"... Even if we lost one of our greatest knights and princes, we are happy that we have found a symbol for our great Islamic nations, one that the mujahideen will remember and praise in poetry and in stories secretly and aloud."